In recent years, mobile terminals including cellular phones are widely and commonly used, and the number of users has been increasing. In particular, recently, exchanging messages between the users of the mobile terminals through transmission/reception of e-mails by use of mobile terminals such as a cellular phone and PDA is widely and routinely performed. Moreover, the mobile terminals are equipped with various function units and application programs such as a digital camera, GPS (Global Positioning System) and non-contact IC card function, for example. These days, mobile terminals are thus multifunctional, improving convenience for users significantly.
In Japan, due to a revision of the Ordinance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Regulations for Telecommunications Facilities for Telecommunications Business), the 3G (third generation) cellular phone terminals released on and after April 2007 are required to have a function for notifying the departments concerned of the location information of the terminal at the time of transmission of an emergency message. Under such a circumstance, it seems that the GPS (Global Positioning System) in particular will be spread even more widely among the functions incorporated in the mobile terminals. There have been suggested a variety of mobile terminals having navigating functions by the GPS, including one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-341476.
The cellular phone described in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-341476 can, as a normal cellular phone, communicate with another cellular phone by radio and, in addition display the present location obtained by a GPS reception unit and a GPS image data generation routine on a liquid crystal display by a map, whereby the user of the cellular phone can know his/her present location almost exactly.
The user moving with such a cellular phone may use the GPS function as a usable guide. Thereby, the cellular phone can significantly reduce a risk that he/she gets lost and cannot arrive at a destination, even if a meeting spot designated is where the user has never been before.
However, an intended usage of the GPS is normally to obtain the location information of the mobile terminal. Therefore, the cellular phone described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-341476 cannot provide the present location of a mobile terminal of a corresponding party supposed to meet but provides only the present location of the mobile terminal itself.
When the user wishes to know the present location of the corresponding party, for example, if the corresponding party carries a cellular phone, it is possible to obtain the present location of the corresponding party through wireless communications or e-mails with the corresponding party. However, it could be a considerable burden for the corresponding party to verbally describe his/her present location and, in some cases, it may be difficult for the corresponding party to talk or explain on the phone, such as when the corresponding party is on a train. In addition, it may be a troublesome task for the corresponding party to write the present location in e-mail, and further, there may be some cases where the corresponding party cannot successfully describe the present location by using textual information. It may happen that the corresponding party has no idea about the present location if he/she is unfamiliar with the place.
In order to deal with such problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-262338, for example, discloses a technique in which each of the mobile terminal of the user and the mobile terminal of the corresponding party is provided with the GPS function and obtains its location information from a GPS satellite. According to this technique, the user can obtain even the location information of the corresponding party from a location information service center by using his/her mobile terminal and also map information from a map information database.
A mobile communication terminal described in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-262338, enables the user to obtain the present location information of the mobile terminal of his/her mobile terminal as well as the present location information of the mobile terminal of the corresponding party. Moreover, this mobile communication terminal can show not only the user's location but also the corresponding party's location on a map displayed on a display unit of the user's mobile terminal. It is thus possible to easily locate the present location of the corresponding party. Hence, according to the mobile communication terminal described in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-262338, it is possible to easily recognize a locational relationship between him/her and the corresponding party.